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Gwinnett Daily Post SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2018
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Vol. 48, No. 173
Gwinnett offi cer shot, killed Suspects at large; line-of-duty death is department’s first since ’93 FROM STAFF REPORTS
Antwan Toney
Gwinnett police are interviewing “multiple persons of interests” in connection with the shooting death of a 30-year-old Gwinnett County Police Department officer on Saturday.
Officer Antwan Toney, 30, who had been with the department since Oct. 26, 2015, died at Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville following a shooting near a Snellville school, according to Sgt. Jake Smith, a spokesman for the Gwinnett County Police
Department. Toney was gunned down after he responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle behind Shiloh Middle School, Gwinnett police Chief A.A. “Butch” Ayers said. “This is a very fluid investigation and manhunt, but basi-
cally, it was an anonymous call to 911 stating there was a suspicious vehicle possibly in the area and it was believed they were possibly smoking marijuana,” Ayers said. “The officers on scene did attempt to provide immediate first aid to Officer Toney pending the
arrival of the Gwinnett County Fire Department’s paramedics.” Toney was originally from the California area, Ayers said. This was his first police job. Prior to working for Gwinnett,
See OFFICER, Page 7A
Candidates for BOE seats talk key issues BY TREVOR MCNABOE trevor.mcnaboe@gwinnettdailypost.com
Employees at Duluth-based Primerica, which has sponsored Gwinnett Great Days of Service for the last 19 years, put into place newly-built benches at Summerour Middle School’s garden Friday. The garden will also function as an outdoor classroom. (Staff Photos: Isabel Hughes)
Helping hands
Thousands turn up for 19th annual Great Days of Service
BY ISABEL HUGHES
isabel.hughes @gwinnettdailypost.com
Cindy Mitchell crouched next to a newly built bench, eyeing the dusty level that sat on the wooden seat in front of her. “That side needs a little more dirt,” she said to her coworkers, all of whom sported matching gray T-shirts with “Primerica” written in bold white letters on the front and “Volunteer” on the back. As Robert Flynn and Bert Sandler shoveled soil back into one of the holes to even out its depth, Mitchell smiled, looking around at the men and women scattered throughout Summerour Middle School’s garden. “One of the reasons we chose
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this (project) is because of the garden itself,” said Laura Gibbs, vice president of human resources for Primerica. “(Gardens) promote self-sufficiency, and that’s part of what Primerica believes in, as a company and also what our foundation does.” On Friday and Saturday, Primerica employees — and thousands of others from across Gwinnett — took a break from their normal routines to help out at the more than 500 projects that made up this year’s Gwinnett Great Days of Service, the Brain injury survivors paint a building at the Southeastern Rail-
Increasing the quality of education for all students in Gwinnett County Public Schools, sex education and testing are all platforms highlighted by candidates running for the school board this upcoming election. Two of the five seats on the Gwinnett County Public Schools Board of Education are open during this election cycle. Longtime board members Robert McClure in District IV and Dan BOE SEAT Seckinger in District CANDIDATES II both District IV decided not Everton “EJ” Blair Jr. (R) to run for Steve Knudsen (D) re-election. District II In Chuck Studebaker (R) District II, Wandy Taylor (D) Democrat Wandy Taylor is facing Republican Steve Knudsen. In District IV, Democrat candidate Everton Blair is running against Republican candidate Chuck Studebaker. If either of the Democratic candidates — both of whom are black — are elected, it would mark a change for an all-white school board that, along with the county commission, is the subject of a federal lawsuit which claims district boundaries are set up to prevent minority candidates from being elected. In District II, Taylor is a longtime educator and former principal at Lilburn Elementary School whose mantra is “Now is the Time.” She has made inclusion and addressing the needs of all 180,000 students in the school district high priorities. In looking at the upcoming budget for this year, Taylor would request a review and cost-benefit analysis of it to see if 71 percent of the budget devoted to instructional services is enough. “Why would GCPS ever want to settle for simply being adequate?” Taylor said. “GCPS often uses Fairfax County Public Schools — which is a high-performing
road Museum during the 19th annual Gwinnett Great Days of
See SERVICE, Page 7A Service on Friday.
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